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News Release

Chronic Wasting Disease sampling to resume November 1, 2008

Mandatory sampling in effect for parts of Frederick County on specific days

Richmond, VA — The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) will re-commence its active surveillance for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) during the 2008-2009 hunting season on November 1, 2008. To determine whether CWD occurs in Virginia, VDGIF has conducted CWD surveillance since 2002. A total of 4,151 samples have been collected from deer from every county in the Commonwealth, and CWD has not been detected. However, since September 2005, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources has detected CWD in approximately 36 white-tailed deer in Hampshire County, West Virginia. The closest case to Virginia was detected during 2007, near Yellow Spring, which is approximately 2.5 miles from the Virginia state line.

Because of the proximity of CWD to Virginia, VDGIF has established an active surveillance area that consists of the section of Frederick County west of Interstate 81, as well as Shenandoah County west of Interstate-81 and north of Route 675. The Department plans to sample as many hunter-harvested deer from this area during hunting season as possible, and submission of deer heads for sampling will be voluntary. Department personnel and volunteers will be staffing two check stations and one meat processing facility (T and R Meat Processor in Winchester) to assist with sample collection as well as setting up "self-service" stations at various locations, including one located at the Winchester-Frederick County Conservation Club on Route 600 just north of the intersection of Routes 522 and 600. More instructions and maps of surveillance areas can be found on the Department's website www.dgif.virginia.gov.

In addition, the Department has established a Mandatory CWD Sampling Area in southwestern Frederick County that consists of the area west of Route 600, north of Vance's Cove Road and Paddy's Cove Lane, and south of Fall Run Lane and Heishman Lane. This is the area of Virginia closest to the CWD detection in Yellow Spring, West Virginia. Consequently, deer harvested in this area must be brought to either Graden's Supermarket (6836 John Marshall Highway, Lebanon Church, VA 22641, Tel: 540 465 4447) or Gore Grocery (305 Gore Road, Gore, VA 22637, Tel: 540 858 3139) check stations for CWD sampling on the following days:

November 1, 2008 (opening of muzzleloader season)
November 15, 2008 (opening of general firearms season)
November 17, 2008
January 3, 2009 (last day of deer season)

These check stations will be staffed by Department personnel on these designated days. Please note that the telephone checking system may still be used to report the harvest, but the deer must still be taken to one of these check stations for CWD sampling. For hunters who harvest an animal they wish to have mounted, the deer should still be taken to one of these check stations and VDGIF personnel will work with the hunter and/or local taxidermist to obtain the samples needed.

Testing is for the purposes of CWD surveillance only. No testing technique can assure 100 percent accuracy for the diagnosis of CWD, and “not detected” test results do not exclude the possibility of low levels of the causative agent being present in deer. Hunters will be able to check the CWD test results for their submitted deer heads on the Department's website: http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/cwdresults. Results should be available within 60 working days after collection. There is a possibility that not all deer heads will be submitted for testing, and that some submitted samples will not have valid test results returned. If this occurs, an explanation for why there is no test result for a submitted deer head will be provided on the website.

In addition, an important part of the surveillance strategy is the testing of deer that have clinical signs consistent with the disease. CWD infected animals usually display abnormal behavior such as staggering or standing with very poor posture. Animals may have an exaggerated wide posture or carry the head and ears lowered, and may drool. Infected animals become emaciated (thus the name wasting disease) and appear in very poor body condition. If you see an animal with CWD symptoms, do not attempt to contact, disturb, kill, or remove the animal. You should accurately document the location of the animal and immediately contact the VDGIF at 1-804-367-1258 or the office listed below that is nearest to you. Arrangements will be made to investigate the report. Offices are located at Blacksburg (540) 961-8304, Farmville (434) 392-9645, Fredericksburg (540) 899-4169, Lynchburg (434) 525-7522, Marion (276) 783-4860, Verona (540) 248-9360, and Charles City (804) 829-6580.

CWD is a progressive neurological (brain and nervous system) disease found in deer and elk. The disease ultimately results in death. Species known to be susceptible include elk, red deer, moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and black-tailed deer. CWD belongs to a family of diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. There is no current scientific evidence that CWD has infected humans. However, it is recommended that human exposure to the CWD agent be avoided, and the Department recommends that hunters take simple precautions such as not consuming any deer that appear abnormal or sick, and wearing gloves when field dressing and boning out the meat. In addition, it is recommended that hunters avoid consuming meat and tissues from known CWD-infected animals.

VDGIF Wildlife Veterinarian Dr. Jonathan Sleeman added, "Concerns over CWD should not keep hunters from enjoying the deer hunting season." Persons who have questions or need additional information about CWD should visit the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries website at http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/diseases/cwd/.